Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
1. Field of Invention
The present invention is directed generally to wireless communication networks and, more particularly, to methods for configuring wireless networks.
2. Description of the Background
Wireless local area networks (WLANs) were originally intended to allow wireless connections to a wired local area network (LAN), such as where premises wiring systems were nonexistent or inadequate to support conventional wired LANS. A block diagram of a typical WLAN 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1. The WLAN 10 includes a mobile device 12 including a network adapter (NA) 14, a number of access points (APs) 161xe2x88x92x, and a wired LAN 18. The APs 16 are typically radio base stations, each mounted in a separate fixed position and connected to the wired LAN 18. The NA 14 communicates with the APs 16 by formatted wireless communication signals to provide an interface between the computing device 12 and the wired LAN 18. Because network adapters 14 are now available in compact PC card form, WLANs are often used to service mobile computing devices, such as laptop computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs), thus providing mobile connectivity to data networks, such as the Internet or an intranet.
In designing a WLAN, care must be taken in locating the APs 16 to ensure adequate radio coverage throughout the service area of the WLAN 10, while minimizing the costs associated with the installation of each AP 16. The APs 16 must be configured to eliminate coverage gaps and to provide adequate coverage for areas of highly-concentrated wireless traffic. The APs 16, however, must not be placed so closely that proximate APs 16 interfere with each other. Implementing a WLAN 10 inside a building complicates the design because the layout and construction of the building affect the wireless signal transmissions between the NAs 14 and the APs 16. For example, while wood, plaster, and glass are not serious barriers to the WLAN radio transmissions, brick and concrete walls can attenuate the signals beyond an acceptable threshold. In addition, the greatest obstacle to the wireless transmissions between the NAs 14 and APs 16 commonly found in all building environments is metal. For example, the metal used in desks, filing cabinets, reinforced concrete, and elevator shafts can significantly attenuate the signals transmitted between the NAs 14 and the APs 16, thus degrading network performance.
In addition, the communication schemes for transmitting signals between the NAs 14 of the mobile devices 12 and the APs 16 are typically contention-oriented, such as the IEEE 802.11 protocol, in order that all the mobile units in the environment may share the limited bandwidth resource. Such a contention-oriented protocol makes signal interference between the APs 16 undesirable because if one AP 16 can xe2x80x9chearxe2x80x9d another, it will defer to the other just as it would defer to a mobile device transmitting within its coverage area. Thus, signal interference between APs 16 degrades performance. Similarly, if a mobile device 12 can be heard by more than one AP 16, all the APs 16 in communication with the mobile device will defer.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a method for designing a wireless network to provide adequate coverage which minimizes cost and maximizes network performance. There also exists a need for a method for designing a wireless network to handle concentrated areas of traffic, yet which does not introduce interference between access points.
The present invention is directed to a method for establishing the location of access points for a network providing wireless communications coverage for an environment. According to one embodiment, the method includes determining a coverage radius of an access point at certain locations within the environment, determining an average coverage radius of the access points for the environment based on the determined coverage radii, and positioning the access points at locations within the environment to provide continuous wireless coverage for the environment based on the average coverage radius.
According to another embodiment, the present invention is directed to a method for assigning channels for access points for a network providing wireless communications coverage for an environment, including assigning a weight indicative of overlapping coverage for each pair of access points having overlapping coverage, and assigning a channel to each of the access points based on certain sums of the weights to minimize coverage overlap between access points operating at the same channel.
According to another embodiment, the present invention is directed to a method for configuring access points of a network providing wireless communications coverage for an environment, including determining a coverage radius of an access point at certain locations within the environment, determining an average coverage radius of the access points for the environment based on the determined coverage radii, positioning the access points at locations within the environment to provide continuous wireless coverage for the environment based on the average coverage radii, assigning a weight indicative of overlapping coverage for each pair of access points having overlapping coverage, and assigning a channel to each of the access points based on certain sums of the weights to minimize coverage overlap between access points operating at the same channel.
The present invention represents an advantage over prior means for configuring a wireless network in that it provides a method for configuring a wireless network to provide adequate coverage which minimizes cost and maximizes network performance. The present invention also represents an advantage in that it provides a method for configuring a wireless network to handle concentrated areas of traffic, yet minimizes interference between access points. These and other advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description hereinbelow.